History of Central Asia

History of Central Asia, history of the area from prehistoric and ancient times to the present.

In its historical application the term Central Asia designates an area that is considerably larger than the heartland of the Asian continent. Were it not for the awkwardness of the term, it would be better to speak of Central Eurasia, comprising all those parts of the huge Eurasian landmass that did not develop a distinctive sedentary civilization of their own. But the real boundaries of Central Asia are determined at any given time in history by the relationship between the “civilized” and the “barbarian”—the two ... (100 of 10,875 words)